Make It With Anything, But Don't Call It Pesto

September 11, 2003|By Marlene Parrish Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Pesto is a simple basil sauce from Italy's Ligurian region -- the recipe so old that it is said to predate the tomato by 1,500 years. Today's pesto is a sauce of fresh basil leaves, fruity olive oil, sweet pine nuts, garlic and salt. Maybe parmesan cheese is added. Maybe not. Pesto is always served fresh, never cooked.

But things change. Ever since pesto entered the American mainstream culinary vocabulary in the mid-1970s, all kinds of ingredients and flavors have been added. The word pesto is no longer a noun for a specific sauce. It has morphed into a process.

Sensing a good thing, chefs are making pesto with spinach, parsley, mint and other leafy greens. But why stop there?

Deconstruction has become rampant as walnuts, almonds and cashews are substituted for pine nuts. Olive oil has given way to other nut oils. And the star of the show, basil, has been replaced by sun-dried tomatoes or chilies. Just about any food can be "pesto-ized." Fine. But please, call the result a sauce, not pesto.

In Italian, pesto means a sauce pounded in a mortar. Today, most home cooks prefer the speed of whirling it in a food processor.

Perfect pesto has tons of uses but is most often paired with pasta. Spread some on bruschetta. Stir a few tablespoons into soup. Use it as a topping for grilled vegetables. Make a topping for an open-face sandwich. Mix it into ricotta cheese for lasagna. Mix it into cottage cheese for lunch. Or mix it into mayonnaise and add it to potato salad. I love it on cream cheese-spread bagels for breakfast.

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SAUCE

FOOD PROCESSOR PESTO

2 cups fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup light, fruity olive oil

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 medium cloves garlic, lightly crushed and peeled

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or more to taste

1/2 cup fresh-grated parmesan cheese, optional

2 tablespoons fresh-grated pecorino romano cheese, optional

3 tablespoons softened butter, optional

Put basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic cloves and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and use on/off pulses, stopping from time to time to scrape side of work bowl with a rubber spatula. When ingredients are evenly blended, you have a choice.

To use later, transfer mixture into a jar and refrigerate or freeze.

To use immediately, pour mixture into a bowl and stir in parmesan and pecorino romano cheeses by hand, if using. When cheese has been incorporated, beat in softened butter, if using. Makes 2 cups.

OMELETS ARE FAST AND SATISFYING, AS GOOD AT LUNCH AND DINNER AS THEY ARE AT BREAKFAST. HERE'S ONE THAT CELEBRATES THE FLAVORS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. YOU WILL HAVE MORE CROUTONS THAN YOU NEED. SAVE THE LEFTOVERS FOR SOUP OR SALAD.

Cut bread into cubes and toss with oil and garlic in a bowl. Spread cubes on a baking sheet and toast them in a 300-degree oven 15 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a plate. When you're ready to make the omelet, have all ingredients ready nearby.

Crack eggs into a small bowl. Add water and salt; beat lightly. Place a nonstick omelet pan over medium-high heat and add butter. When it starts to sizzle, add eggs. Stir eggs with a fork (tines up) in a circular motion. When eggs start to set and form curds, spread evenly across bottom of pan. Immediately turn the heat to very low.

Wait a few seconds and, when top layer of egg is almost entirely set, sprinkle cheese over surface. Dot surface with pesto. Scatter tomatoes and a handful of croutons over half of omelet and fold other half over filled side. Slide omelet out of pan and serve at once. Makes 1 serving.